1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to devices which aid in the filling of bags with leaves, grass and debris. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved loading scoop which can be attached to a bag to be loaded, wherein the scoop includes an improved bag securing attachment positioned next to the handle on the scoop.
2. Background Art
In the cleanup of lawn and garden areas, it is common to employ hand implements such as rakes, shovels, and the like to assemble the debris into spaced apart piles which are later loaded.
There are a number of commercially-available plastic bags which are simply folded into cardboard containers in large numbers. The bags are usually of a flexible plastic film material and are sealed at one end and opened at the other end. These bags are generally disposable and are discarded once filled with yard material to be gathered such as leaves, cut grass, debris and the like.
The disposable plastic bags are relatively light and are difficult to fill by a single user. It is to this problem that the present invention is directed. A number of devices have been patented which relate to scoops, buckets, or other bag filling devices. For example, the following patents include various scoops and aids to the filling of bags.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,531 issued on Jan. 26, 1982, to Richard Cross and entitled "Filling Aid for Plastic Trash Bags and the Like." This patent discloses a filling aid selectively positionable within a can-received flexible bag for a stabilization and protection of the bag and a guiding of debris and the like into the bag. The aid includes an elongated tubular split sleeve having open inner and outer ends and being of a resiliently flexible nature for a selective varying of the circumferential size thereof. The outer end of the sleeve includes an outwardly curled flange engageable over a can rim for the clamping of a bag thereto. An outwardly flaring scoop extends longitudinally from the flanged end of the sleeve, tapering from engagement with the periphery of the sleeve about approximately one half the circumference thereof, to a straight outer edge of a length greater than the normal diameter of the sleeve. This device is unlike the present invention in that it contemplates a rigid outer container and an outer flanged scoop to support the bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,785 entitled "Portable Bag Holder" issued on Aug. 23, 1973 to John Anderson. This patent shows a portable bag holder for detachably mounting a flexible garbage bag thereon comprising a handle, the provision of spaced supports for the mouth of the bag, devices for tensioning the mouth of the bag about said supports and a lip located to extend from the inside to the outside of the bag mount for facilitating loading of refuse into the bag directly off the ground. The device does not use the improved flexible strap and attachment bracket of the present invention but rather a complicated double clamp arrangement which would be cumbersome to use and expensive to manufacture.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,128,183 issued in 1915 and is entitled "Device for Handling and Bagging Grain." This patent shows a bagging device comprising a tubular scoop having projecting handles, a flexible duct connected with the discharge end of the scoop, the duct being tapered in the direction of its discharge end, a tapered bag supporting band having its small end connected with the small end of the duct, and a hoop externally engaging the tapering bag supporting band, the hoop being of smaller diameter than the large end of the band. The device does not show the improved connection of the present invention which is formed between the scoop and bag being filled.
U.S. Pat. No. 970,398 issued in 1910 and entitled "Bag Holder" discloses a bag frame formed of uprights, a plurality of expansible hoops secured thereto, each of the hoops being divided at one point for making the frame resilient, and means for holding a bag upon the frame. Unlike the present invention, this device uses drawstrings as part of the bag to secure the bag to the scoop.
U.S. Pat. No. 791,472 issued in 1905 to Ernst Kaiser shows a bag-filling device comprising a cylindrical tubular member having ends at right angles to the sides thereof, the member being of uniform size throughout, and a flat spring-clip attached on the exterior of the member near one end with its free end extending toward the other end, the clip having an offset intermediate its ends to receive the hem of the bag. The device is unlike the present invention because it does not fully support the bag opening all around the scoop opening but rather only supports the bag at spaced clips on the scoop.
U.S. Pat. No. 544,585 entitled "Sack Holder" issued in 1895 to A. Mayo. This patent shows an improved sack holder comprising a funnel-like body having at the lower outer edges hooks to support the sack, its ends being flared outward, the top of the front portion being disposed parallel with the bottom, the tops of the ends curving upward and rearward, the rear wall of the body being extended upward to form a shield or guide, the upper edges of which merge with the upper edges of the ends, the extension having apertures near the top, and a projecting handle member formed on the rear face of the body at a point beneath the aforesaid apertures. This device is similar to Kaiser, U.S. Pat. No. 791,472, in that it fails to support the bag all around the scoop opening, but rather uses spaced apart hooks. The device will not support a bag manufactured of plastic because the hooks would tear the bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 571,513 shows a bag-filler comprising the combination of a cylindrical tapering body having a flattened side at the large end, the body being of substantially the same length on the upper side as on the lower side, a blade secured to the flattened side and projecting slightly beyond the edges of the body, and handles at opposite ends of the body. This device does not show the improved connection between the bag and the scoop of the present invention but rather relies upon the hand of the user to hold the bag on the scoop.
U.S. Pat. No. 112,727 issued to W. F. Lum in 1871 shows a bag filler and holder comprising a shovel having handles in combination with a flexible tube or slack bag and holder having hooks thereon. The Lum device contemplates an open ended sack as a permanent part of the scoop such that grain passes through it.